<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>passport home by orphan_account</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257404">passport home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(surprise surprise), 5 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Rings, the innocent kind, yeah it's not even 5+1 things</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:28:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29257404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>His brain has been constantly playing that one scene from The Office on loop where Jim shows the camera his ring box and says, “Got it a week after we started dating.” Questionable taste in TV shows aside, Mark knows that <i>that’s</i> the kind of gone he is for Donghyuck. It’s scary, but it’s true.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>251</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>passport home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/3cS0qzNDjE5SjdAL1W98fo?highlight=spotify:track:4DzgGTs7eaS6DHHOp1xcyj">i</a> step back on the stage<br/>the people call my name<br/>these crowds just ain't the same without you, lady<br/>and though they sing along i'd rather hear your song again, again</i>
</p><p>  <i>oh, don't you know that you're my passport home<br/>my guiding light<br/>my hand to hold<br/>oh, don't you know that you're my passport home<br/>without you close i can't go on</i></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>i.</p><p>“Nope, too young.”</p><p>It’s the briefest of thoughts, but it must’ve passed loud and obvious across his face, because Taeyong is steering him away from the <em>Tiffany &amp; Co</em>. like one would a small child from yet another stuffed whale in the middle of a Toys R’ Us (5-year-old Mark knows the feeling all too well). Still, Mark catches the teasing smile on Taeyong’s face and groans, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“That’s not even what I was thinking,” Mark says defensively, stopping in front of the information screen to look for the store they’d actually come here to shop from.</p><p>Taeyong pinches Mark’s cheek, cooing between barely restrained laughter as Mark struggles to fight him off. “Aw, you don’t have to lie to me, I think it’s cute!”</p><p>This time, Mark flushes. It had been a nice ring, that’s <em>all</em>. Silver, thin band, a small diamond in the shape of the sun sitting on top. It was practically begging for his attention glinting underneath the bright lights, propped up prettily behind the display window. If anything, he’d fallen victim to a marketing strategy, not thoughts of holy matrimony.  </p><p>“I’m not lying,” Mark insists pathetically, heat still pricking the back of his neck. He trails a finger down the screen, searching for a <em>Lids</em>. “It wasn’t about Hyuck or anything, I just thought it was a sick looking ring.”</p><p>Although, silver did look best on Donghyuck, his warm skin always wonderfully complementing the cool metal. Mark likes the way rings, in particular, look on his long, pianist fingers. They make his hands look dressed up, more special than usual, and yeah, Mark had briefly—very briefly—entertained the thought of giving Donghyuck a ring that he’d never want to take off <em>for whatever reason </em>but—</p><p>“I never said it <em>was</em> about Hyuck,” Taeyong says, a slow, wolfish grin forming on his face that has Mark starting to sweat uncomfortably, “but please, go on about how it’s <em>absolutely, positively</em> not him.”</p><p>So, maybe he had been thinking of Donghyuck. Sue him.</p><p>“The <em>Lids </em>is upstairs, hyung, c’mon,” Mark turns away from the screen, feet moving at an unbelievably fast pace to escape embarrassment. Unfortunately, embarrassment has long legs and too much to say.</p><p>Taeyong slings an arm around his shoulder good-naturedly, “Don’t worry, Markie! I won’t tell. You two are still too young, though.”</p><p>Mark walks faster.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>ii.</p><p>In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been Donghyuck’s brightest idea to blurt out a confession literal seconds before Mark left to go on tour with SuperM. In fact, his fumbled “<em>I really like you, in, um, that way,”</em> wouldn’t even make the top 100. But, well, it’s not like Mark had been any better. (He’d managed to swallow the surprise in time to choke out a <em>“Yeah, me too,”</em> before Donghyuck nodded stiffly, slid the door to the van shut in one jerky move, and turned on his heel to retreat into the building without so much as bidding Mark goodbye.)</p><p>Evidently, not their proudest moments.</p><p>Mark likes to think they made up for it through text, moments after that whole fiasco, even with Taeyong giving him shit for it the entire way to the airport.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="thread">
  <p><strong>donghyuck:</strong> so</p>
  <p><strong>donghyuck:</strong> ?</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>dude are you gonna keep being this awkward bc like</p>
  <p>im gonna start thinking that we’re not ready to date</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>donghyuck:</strong> WHY would you SAY that it was awkward</p>
  <p><strong>donghyuck:</strong> pls shut up. i like you a lot. shut up. thanks.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>haha but like are we?</p>
  <p>dating?</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>donghyuck:</strong> have we gone on a date?</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>righttt okay</p>
  <p>as soon as i get back, i promise</p>
  <p>&lt;3</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p> </p>
</div><p>Later (much later), Mark learns that Donghyuck’s cool composure had fallen apart as soon as he’d stepped into the building, and that he’d texted Mark with legs so shaky he’d had to slump down onto the floor.</p><p>Long-distance is strange when they haven’t even fully established if they’re in a relationship, but Mark supposes he wouldn’t refer to it as “long-distance” in his head if what they had was just a friendship, so he takes comfort in that for the time being. Until he goes back home, that’s all he has. That, and all the other stuff.</p><p>Whispered phone calls under blankets at the dead hours of the night, constant texting back and forth, video calls sprinkled in here and there when there’s time, blurry snaps of things that don’t really matter, more selfies than Mark’s sent or received in his entire life. It’s… a lot. But it feels good, it feels right. Sometimes, Mark even catches himself experiencing some sort of déjà vu, like he’s already gone through the motions of a long-distance relationship with Donghyuck. It’s all been coming to him so naturally.</p><p>“That is <em>such </em>a lie, you hate this. You miss me so much it drives you absolutely crazy,” Donghyuck croons through the speaker. Mark scoffs, sandwiching his phone between his ear and his shoulder to free up his hands so that he can dig through the accessory box.</p><p>“Don’t project your feelings onto me.” A stylist pauses next to Mark and points out the section he can choose rings his own size from, and Mark gives her a half-smile in thanks. “I like you better far away. Maybe I’ll just never come home. You don’t know.”</p><p>Donghyuck makes an affronted noise at that, and it’s almost like Mark can see him curled up in his gaming chair, one foot on the ground to keep himself spinning in slow circles as he holds the phone up to his ear, only a desk light to illuminate him in an otherwise dark room. God, what Mark wouldn’t give to be next to him.</p><p>“Hyung, you wouldn’t last two days without me,” Donghyuck says like it’s a universal truth, which it might as well be, honestly. Mark slips a chunky ring off and starts poking around again, looking for something less bulky.</p><p>“See, you say that,” Mark starts with a smile, catching sight of a silver ring beneath the mountain of metals, “but here I stand, alive and well, two Donghyuck-free weeks.”</p><p>The ring isn’t anything fancy, but he goes for it almost on instinct, brain too wrapped up in Donghyuck not to. It doesn’t have a diamond in the shape of the sun on it, but it’s elegant in a way that’s reminiscent of the one he’d seen when he was out with Taeyong.</p><p>Hadn’t Donghyuck said something about bringing him back a gift?</p><p>A scoff sounds in his ear. “Yeah, because staying in constant contact with me is ‘Donghyuck-free’.”</p><p>Mark laughs, fingers still turning the ring over. It takes three more turns for him to stop and slip it onto his index finger. It looks good. It would look better with a counterpart. Or something. Ten startles him with a tap on his shoulder, mouthing an inquisitive <em>Donghyuck?  </em>when he turns around. When Mark nods, Ten silently <em>ah</em>s and holds up two fingers, spinning around to head out of the room.</p><p>Right, they’d promised to do a quick briefing about the setlist before the show started.</p><p>“Hey.” Donghyuck’s voice is softer now. Mark closes the box and presses back against a wall, shifting the phone back into one hand while keeping an eye on the ring adorning the other. “You miss me, right?”</p><p>It’s probably the closest thing Mark will get to Donghyuck admitting that he misses Mark, and the thought puts a small smile on his face. Donghyuck is always so loud about things that don’t matter, only to fall quiet at the things that do.</p><p>“Yeah, I do,” Mark replies as sincerely as he can, lowering his voice and pushing the phone closer to create some semblance of privacy in a room filled with staff members milling about. “You have no idea, Hyuck. The stage never, like, feels <em>right </em>without you by my side, you know?”</p><p>Gentle breathing floods through the other end, and in that moment Taeyong’s voice calls his name from the other room, loud and clear. Apparently, Donghyuck hears it because he laughs softly.</p><p>“You better go, ace.”</p><p>Mark frowns even though Donghyuck can’t see it. It’s never easy saying goodbye, every conversation feels too short. “I guess. Don’t stay up too late, you have that thing with Dream tomorrow and you don’t get enough sleep as it is.”</p><p>And, because Donghyuck is a fucking enigma, all Mark gets back is a heartbeat of complete silence followed by a quick, “You’re the worst. I’m gonna kiss you stupid when you get back.”</p><p>And the line goes dead.</p><p>Mark stands there in shock for half a second before shaking it off and pocketing his phone. When he enters the other room with a stupid grin on his face, the other members don’t say a word.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>iii.</p><p>“Don’t let it slip up, I’m serious.”</p><p>“Okay, Mark, I won’t tell your boyfriend of, like, two days that you want to marry him.”</p><p>Mark smacks Yukhei’s stomach (which, for obvious reasons, is entirely ineffective). It’s been way longer than two days. At least two and a half weeks. Maybe.</p><p>“I don’t want to <em>marry  </em>him,” Mark shoots back, trying not to let the stench of Dirty Liar exude from his pores. “It’s just a ring. He likes rings and I need to get him a gift, and I might as well get another one while I’m at it because sets probably cost less money. Win-win.”</p><p>“Winwin <em>hyung</em>,” Yukhei corrects obnoxiously just because he can, snickering when Mark groans. He drops his phone on his chest and cranes his neck up from the pillow to squint at the TV screen where some French movie has been playing for the last hour. Having an off-day in between concerts is both a blessing and a curse. “It kinda sounds like a promise ring, dude, I’m not gonna lie. What the fuck is going on? Weren’t they in the middle of a fight?”</p><p>“She apologized, like, ten minutes ago, keep up. And it’s not a promise ring.” Mark presses his back more firmly against the headboard, trying to assert himself. “It’s just… a ring.”</p><p>But it’s also not. They might’ve gotten together just a few weeks ago, but Mark’s known how he’s felt about Donghyuck ever since he opened the door to the practice room at the ripe age of 14 only to fall down after running right into the new trainee, this kid with a smile free from any self-consciousness and eyes that held the exact kind of mischief Mark could tell was going to get him in trouble very frequently in the future.  </p><p>His brain has been constantly playing that one scene from The Office on loop where Jim shows the camera his ring box and says, “Got it a week after we started dating.” Questionable taste in TV shows aside, Mark knows that <em>that’s </em>the kind of gone he is for Donghyuck. It’s scary, but it’s true.</p><p>For now, it’s just a ring.</p><p>“Two rings, actually.”</p><p>Mark kicks Yukhei’s leg, who whines about it insufferably for the next two minutes.</p><p>But Mark’s not paying attention. The couple on screen are at a beach. The man gets down on one knee, backlit by the setting sun. Mark blinks, and the couple is gone, replaced by two young men on the screen. He blinks again, and they’re gone.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>iv.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="thread">
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> u don’t even know his ring size lmfao OKAY</p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> and what makes u think that i’ll come with you to buy a ring worth</p>
  <p>1k after knowing that it might not even FIT</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>pleaseee. u buy stuff for your piercings all the time i’ll know if i’m being scammed</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> mark you’re scamming yourself. you understand that right.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>i need to get it but it has to be a surprise!!</p>
  <p>i can’t just ask :/</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> okay 1. you don’t Need to do anything. and 2. why does it have to be a surprise??</p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> you said he’s the one asked for a gift??</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>hyung :(</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> mark just. explain why you want these rings to the point where you’re being irrational pls</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>okay so like</p>
  <p>listen this isn’t like a promise ring or me asking for m*rriage but</p>
  <p>he’s the only one. like if it was that kind of thing, it would only be for him.</p>
  <p>i don’t want do give it to him as like a binding us together thing but it’s more like just.</p>
  <p>a reminder that we have time. for now, we’re with each other and things are good.</p>
  <p>that’s not going anywhere.</p>
  <p>like “mark lee this is something good pls don’t ruin it</p>
  <p>bc you know how badly you want that ring to mean smth more one day”</p>
  <p>um that’s kind of gross but yeah.</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> my baby mark growing up so fast :((</p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> still don’t know his ring size tho :(((</p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> but don’t worry ur Ultra Reliable Ten Hyung can fix that for you ;)</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p>NO</p>
  <p>PLEASE NO I TAKE IT BACK I DON’T WANT HELP</p>
  <p>WITH ANYTHING.</p>
  <p>I’M TALKING TO HIM IN A FEW HOURS IF YOU SO MUCH AS HINT AT IT HE’S GONNA KNOW</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> calm down i won’t</p>
  <p><strong>ten:</strong> but i have someone on the inside &lt;3</p>
  <p> </p>
  <p> </p>
</div><p>“So, Johnny hyung said something interesting to me the other day—”</p><p>“Oh my god, don’t finish that sentence. I’m begging you, <em>please</em>, Hyuck.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“…Okay?”</p><p>“Yeah. Nine.”</p><p>“What—nine?”</p><p>“That’s my ring size.”</p><p>“<em>Donghyuck</em>.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>v.</p><p>“You.”</p><p>Donghyuck’s grabbing him by the collar before he gets both feet in through the door, and Mark narrowly manages to shuck his shoes off haphazardly before he’s being dragged away by a Donghyuck with a plan. Presumably.</p><p>Taeyong’s saying something behind them about leaving the luggage sprawled everywhere but it’s hard to care when Donghyuck pulls him into his own room, closing the door and pushing him flat against it. It takes practically no time at all for Donghyuck to plant a kiss right on his lips, pulling apart with a loud smack and a wide grin on his face.</p><p>“Long time coming, huh?”</p><p>Mark nods, equally big grin on his face as he cups Donghyuck’s face and starts leaning in again, “Guess we’ll have to make up for lost time.”</p><p>Donghyuck’s hands come up to stop him though, keeping him away by the shoulders with a mock-stern look on his face.</p><p>“We’ve got other business to attend to, Lee,” he tuts disapprovingly, examining Mark’s face for a moment before starting to pat his jacket pockets. “Now, if I know your sappy ass at all…”</p><p>He cheers quietly when he feels the box in Mark’s jacket, digging it out with gleaming eyes.</p><p>Mark watches, hopelessly fond and a touch embarrassed at his eagerness being exposed so easily, as Donghyuck opens the box to reveal two thin, silver rings. He wastes no time, slipping his on and then shoving the box at Mark pointedly.</p><p>“We don’t have to go on a date,” Donghyuck says matter-of-factly as he takes in the sight of their joined hands, “we’re dating. I mean, unless you have any objections—”</p><p>Mark takes the chance to cut him off, finally swooping down for another, longer kiss. When they break apart, it’s with a matching pink dusting on the top of their cheekbones.</p><p>“No objections, Hyuck,” Mark says, biting back a smile. “Never. Not when it’s you.”</p><p>It’s just a ring, but on Donghyuck, it’s so much more.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm excited for the next one but still confused on How i'm going to write it ksjdvkf (also this ending is iffy ik ik)</p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://twitter.com/punksunlight">twt</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>